


Starting The New Year Off Right

by AsagiStilinski



Series: Pridecember 2018 [31]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Kissing, Kissing at Midnight, M/M, New Year's Eve, New Year's Fluff, New Year's Kiss, Teasing, Yami Yuugi | Atem has his own body, ygopridecember2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-02 03:12:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17256515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: "You're supposed to kiss someone at midnight? Why?""Supposedly it brings good luck, now granted, they don't seem to have that tradition in Japan, but in America,everyonedoes it,"Atem wasn't entirely sure how literally he should take Mai's interpretation of "everyone"....But she HAD traveled far, far more than he ever had





	Starting The New Year Off Right

**Author's Note:**

> Last day of Pridecember 2018- "Kiss"!

"You're supposed to kiss someone at midnight? Why?"

"Supposedly it brings good luck, now granted, they don't seem to have that tradition in Japan, but in America, _everyone_ does it,"

Atem wasn't entirely sure how literally he should take Mai's interpretation of "everyone"....

But she HAD traveled far, far more than he ever had

She was more cultured, more modern, she knew all sorts of things that he didn't, and as this was his first New Year celebration with his own body, he wanted to celebrate it properly

Especially considering that- as morbid as this may sound- he never knew how many new years he would be able to enjoy

That was the thing about dieing- especially multiple times- everything suddenly had a time limit on it, everything felt so much more.... mortal

He remembered how little he had always thought about things like that when he was a kid, and how much he had thought of it since reclaiming his memories

Even when he had been in Aaru, he had so often thought about his freinds and their mortality, about seeing them again in the afterlife, about how it probably wouldn't be nearly as long as it sounded....

Eighty years- give or take a decade- really wasn't that long compared to three thousand...

"So? You know who you're going to kiss?"

Blinking, Atem offered her a gentle smile and a shrug

"I haven't had enough time to think about it,"

But that didn't really mean "no"

 

~+~

 

New Year's Eve came alot sooner than he had really thought it would

His conversation with Mai about kissing had been prior to Christmas, yet it felt like he had only had a day or two to think about his decision

It was much less a matter of _who_ he would kiss, and much more a matter of _if_ he would kiss

As Mai had mentioned, the "kiss at midnight" thing really wasn't a tradition in Japan, he had no idea if his ... ideal kiss-mate .... would even know if it was a tradition at all, or if they would just think he was crazy or something

And even if they _were_ aware of the tradition, that didn't mean they would want to participate in it- especially considering the person he had in mind

And even more to the point, that would mean Atem revealing his feelings about this particular person- sure, under the guise of trying to participate in a tradition, but that was a thinly veiled excuse at the absolute best, and did he really want to put himself out there like that?

Was he really ready to make such an enormous leap, especially considering how hard he would fall if he were rejected?

He didn't have much more time to consider it, it was already nearly midnight and if he didn't act soon his potential kiss-partner was going to end up leaving

....

And after he had just barely gotten him here to begin with

"If you don't tell me what's going on in that gold-embossed head of your's, I'm leaving,"

Ahh... he was out of time

"Was that a reference to my earrings?"

" _Atem_ ,"

_Really_ out of time

"Did you know that in America, people kiss at midnight in order to bring good luck to the new year?"

Seto blinked, slowly, and stared at Atem as though he had just grown a second head

"This may come as a surprise to you Pharaoh, but we live in Japan, and neither of us are American,"

"I'm aware of that, I merely thought it was interesting," Atem huffed back, glancing quickly at his watch

11:58

"Uh-huh,"

A pause

"Atem, did you really drag me all the way out here, into the middle of nowhere, in the freezing cold, just to tell me about some stupid American tradition?"

11:59

He lost his courage

It was clear that this wasn't exactly... Seto's cup of tea

It was clear that this wasn't going to go well for Atem, if he did confess

It was better to just keep it to himself and not risk the good relationship he already had by reaching too high

"I ah... I suppose I did,"

"Hn, what a shame,"

12:00

And the point was officially over

However, just as Atem had started to turn to leave, before he could get a proper step away, he felt a warm hand clutching around his wrist, dragging him closer, and then--

_Then_ Seto Kaiba was kissing him

And it was warm, and soft, and surprisingly gentle

And it was gone far, far too quickly

He blinked a few times, stunned, before Seto pulled away completely

"And to think, you almost didn't get a midnight kiss,"

And then he just- started walking away, as if nothing happened

Oh, _absolutely not_

Atem's first kiss had been stolen, wich meant he was going to have to chase Seto Kaiba down and have a serious adjustment made to their relationship

Atem was starting the new year with a boyfreind come hell or high water


End file.
